If I ever get out of here I'm getting my eyes lasered*

It snowed. It really snowed. I had my doubts because well, this is Virginia and I haven't seen it snow this close to Christmas since I was a kid. I had yesterday off, which is good because I was able to get my errands done. I was driving around and thought all the traffic was due to Christmas shopping. Apparently I'm not really in to the whole, know what's going on around you bit.

I went over to my parent's after my errands and hung out with my sister, who decided her children need some kind of toboggan (which for some reason makes me think of Tobias the never nude*) so we braved it and went to Wal-mart...we went to Wal-mart at 4:30 on a Friday when they were calling for several feet of snow. I didn't know until that moment that I was harboring suicidal thoughts. On the way there we passed a certain point in the mall (probably where Santa's little workshop was encapsulated with fake snow and vertically challenged men and women dressed as elves) and the heaven's opened to release white, powdery snow. By the time we sat through each stop light at least twice and made it through the parking lot to find a spot the snow was coming down pretty thickly. We didn't find a toboggan, or a scrapper, but I grabbed some essentials such as double stuffed golden oreos and frozen pizzas. Then we headed back to the house and the snow had accumulated pretty quickly.

I took this picture after about an hour of snow. Takes me back to college, ah Rexburg, how I miss thee. I drove home under the speed limit the whole way, which is impressive but I think the imminent danger of spinning out in the snow kept me cautious (thank you I-15 for that thrilling and absolutely pant wetting experience).

The problem for any pet owner...mostly just dog owners, in the snow is that most of them who haven't had much experience in the snow find they don't trust the stuff. I mean, their backyards are literally transformed, it's super white, bright, and releases little time bombs of freezing cold moisture that latch on to every inch of your pet that it can. So...understandably they'd rather hold it then go out into the snow. Such is the case with my dog. He had to go to the bathroom last night but refused to leave the porch, in fact, he refused to go on the porch but I pushed him out the door, quickly closing it behind him. He stared pitifully (like poison, pitiful, pathetic*) up at me for a few moments, then he glanced at the side of the porch he jumps over to escape the yard, I could see in his face he was wondering if it would be worth it. Jumping was taking a big chance, he had no idea if this white stuff was just in our yard or if it had attacked the world he knew beyond the gate. He slowly started to walk over, trying to call my bluff, which he did. I opened the door and he came running back in. Then, this morning he needed to go (because he held it all night) and I took him to the door. Still nothing, he wouldn't go.

So I got bundled up, walked him to the door and I went on the porch first. Of course I took my camera with me. He stood in the doorway looking like this for a couple of minutes...

Finally I cheered him on until he came outside and went down into the yard.

He kept holding up his back leg to try and keep it from getting wet...why that one leg, I'm not sure, but it was funny to see what my dog would look like if he were a tripod. A few minutes after we came back in he had to go out again (remember, he held it the whole night). So I took him to the door but didn't go out with him...I had to give my dog a pep talk, seriously. I reminded him that he's done it before and he can do it again. He finally ran out the door, followed the path he had already made in the snow, did his business, ran back (as a tripod) to the porch, tried to jump over the snow covered steps onto the porch and slide right past the door. He stopped just before the barricade on the porch and then made his way to the door. It was like watching an intense action scene on a movie!! Not really, but I wanted it to sound cooler then it was because I found so much entertainment in it.

I absolutely love being snowed in. It's makes being lazy acceptable.